Tempus Fugit: The very long night
by crazy-ranger
Summary: Bada boom... finito encore. enjoy.
1. Default Chapter

Dear fellows,

Apologies for my absence, I chose the most inconvenient moment possible to explore new career options… like becoming a butterfly.

I'd like to thank everyone for emailing me asking for more. More was always intended (I took a leaf from JMS and laid out the story for the whole year), It just took time for me to get to writing this part… However this does mean when I reach later parts you may receive at a greater pace as they are already written.

As I said before, some of the series will tie in significantly with the plot of the episode, and some will add their own plot. This is the latter and is not a particularly long, but a very necessary story for the plot to advance… and incidentally one I had next to no notes written for…DOH!

This one goes out to Lilly Woolcock, whose nagging and use as a soundboard for ideas is still invaluable. Finest Kinds.

B5 belongs to Warner and is the brainchild of JMS. This is based on his work, and is only mine in the very loosest of the sense.

* * *

Tempus Fugit: The Very Long Night…

It was going to be yet another night of eventfulness on Babylon 5. Susan had word confirmed to her an hour ago that Londo had collapsed in customs after drinking from an impounded bottle of Brivari. Now he was in med-lab with suspected poisoning of some kind, and it had been such a quiet day. Well apart from the headache which had now been plaguing her for about two months. Maybe something was really wrong and she should get it checked out. She dismissed the idea deciding that Stephen would be busy attending to Londo at this moment, and that it would lead to questions about her current mental development.

Londo. Poor Londo. She'd used the word "poor" to describe Londo? Londo the pain in the ass, Londo the starter of wars. But then again Londo wasn't a bad person. He wasn't deserving of death. Mostly what he had been in the past was foolish, but not evil. And now he was fighting for his life in med-lab. Well, an assassination attempt on Londo was only a matter of time. After all, he was set to be the next emperor. Emperor Mollari the card-shark. She only hoped Londo lived to be given that nickname.

The tube halted somewhere in blue sector and Garibaldi boarded, looking somewhat worse for wear from the day.

"Hi," He greeted her, seeming rather distracted.

She smiled weakly at him, not feeling like a lengthy conversation. She could see he wasn't too interested in conversation anyway.

"So I guess you heard?" Michael asked eventually, out of necessity rather than want. He hated to be the bearer of bad news.

"About Londo?" Susan checked before continuing. "John linked me about an hour ago."

"You haven't heard the latest then?" Michael asked, hating the morbid topic of conversation.

"No, he isn't-" She began, hoping she wouldn't have to be shipping home a dead ambassador.

"No." Michael answered quickly, not letting her stray down that path too much. "But it wasn't poison. It was a heart attack."

"Damn." Susan sighed, feeling for Londos misfortune. It came as no great surprise though. "How did Vir take it?"

"I'm on my way to find him. Word has it he was on the Zocalo."

Susan stood in silence, unsure as to where the conversation should go after this point. Her and Michael shared the occasional glance as the tube moved along, but little else.

The tube stopped and two of Byron's' telepaths boarded, garbed in black. Garibaldi eyed them with suspicion. She'd never thought of Michael as racist, but he hated them simply for what they are, that which they could not help but be. She couldn't classify it as anything else. Worse still, she wondered how hypocritical Michael would become should he ever find out what she had become recently, or was indeed becoming. It terrified her.

There were a few she could rely on should she ever be discovered. Sheridan would support on her on principal, Delenn and Stephen would help her by nature and Marcus was so liberal he tied himself up in knots.

But Michael. Michael's distrust of telepaths had been amplified since he had discovered that Bester had been manipulating him, he would never trust her. She would loose his friendship, and she ached inside thinking of loosing such a close friend.

He stepped forward as the tube ground to a halt at the Zocalo. He glanced back and weakly smiled, about to do an unpleasant duty.

"Good Luck," She murmured, unsure what else to wish him in these circumstances.

"Thanks," He retorted briefly before disembarking onto the deck.

The doors closed behind him and the tube moved again, Susan sighed deeply. Somewhere she fondness for Londo, a feeling that she would morn his loss, should it come about.

She glanced over at the two telepaths who smiled politely at her. She wondered, why black? These were people trying to escape the corps, so why dress in a colour associated with the organisation? It seemed odd to her, but then most of the universe did.

Suddenly there came about a voice in her mind. Then another, then two more. They were multiplying. She couldn't control it as they grew louder. Susan closed her eyes and grit her teeth, trying desperately to block out the disharmonic choir in her mind. It didn't work, it just got louder. More, and more, pounding waves of thought penetrating her mind, her fears grew that they would sweep her away. Her head began to get light, she couldn't breathe.

This was it, she was going to be found out, her friends would find she'd been lying to them, or at least not been forthcoming with certain truths. She didn't think for a minute that her friends would let her be taken by the corps. They'd hide her on the Minbari home world if they had to, but she'd be out of Earth Force. There would be nothing now. No dreams of going home, no star ship captaincy when she was finally through with B5. She might as well be dying.

As it overcame her mind, she screamed and collapsed.

Sofie had explained it all in the most graphic details to Susan to emphasise the importance of what was to happen tomorrow.

The Corps had finally after thirty-five years caught up with Sofie Ivanov and had forced the sleeper drugs upon her, but they had not yet finished tormenting her and her family. Tomorrow they would test her children, and unless Sofie was able to quickly teach her four-year-old daughter how to fool the tests she would loose her to them. She waited until Andre had fallen asleep, he still subtly angry that she had not entrusted him with her great secret. Then she crept out of bed and woke her youngest child.

Sofie worked for around six hours with her drowsy child until she was satisfied she had learnt how to fool the tests. It was up to Susan now.

Sofie had known her child had limited telepathic ability since Susan had first started developing speech. It had worried her, but she had dismissed it with the thought that she wouldn't have to teach her to control it until she reached school age. But circumstance had brought it forward a year early, and Sofie had to be brutally honest with a child really far too young to understand the importance this had.

The next day rolled around far too quickly, and both Susan and Sofie were exhausted the next morning. At Twelve prompt, a man in a grey suit knocked on the door and Andre begrudgingly let him in.

He was not an unpleasant man, but still Susan was afraid of him. He might take her away from her family, her world. While her mother and father waited in the next room, She held Ganyas hand as he was tested and cleared. He had already been tested in school and was not worried for himself.

Then came her turn. She was barely able to tell the man in the grey suit her name.

Her mother prayed in the next room.

He talked to her, he asked her if she knew what people thought, to which she replied no and managed to make her answer mentally unreadable. He asked her lots more questions. Still she was able to hide herself from his mind. But she was becoming tired. She had been sitting in the chair such a long time.

He said he wanted to keep her longer, but she was tired and afraid. She couldn't stay there anymore; she got up from the chair and ran upstairs, not able to concentrate anymore.

"Did you finish?" Came her Fathers voice up the wooden staircase.

"Almost." The man replied.

Susan's father stood on the first step, barring the man from coming any further. "You finished," Her father informed him, "If you decide you aren't finished you will have to come back with a court order, in which case my daughter will not be here." He paused allowing the man to absorb this information. "Are you finished?"

The man considered for a moment, then decided he wanted no trouble, especially after a child who seemed completely devoid of any telepathic talent. He announced his departure, gathered his papers and left.

The entire house breathed relief as the door closed behind him. Sofie made her way upstairs to find Susan huddled in the hallway, crying with exhaustion.

* * *

I'll be back soon with chapter 2- and this time I mean it! (Barring the eventuality of George Bush killing us all!)

Crazy Ranger:


	2. Things fall apart

Her yer go yer miserable sci-fi fans…. Now don't says I never giver ya nothing.

I kid, Merry Xmas kids.

Crazy, xxx

* * *

She was falling fast, until a great many hands reached out and stopped her hitting bottom.

* * *

She opened her eyes for a moment, but didn't take in her surroundings. They closed again almost instantly. She couldn't quite gauge what was happening.

An hour later she heard noises, and felt her upper body being supported. She tried to ask what was happening, but her brain and body didn't seem to be connected.

She felt the vomit rise to her mouth. But she couldn't move. She feared for a moment she would choke, until she was rolled over. Her eyes wouldn't open, and her limbs were dead to her. Arms held her and a voice that was somehow familiar tried to give comfort and to lull her back to sleep.

* * *

She woke again later, this time her eyes opened to find she was not in med-lab. She had been saved from her friends becoming aware her latency was now a thing of the past. Susan did not recognise this part of the station by sight immediately. Still groggy and disorientated, she called out in a faint mumble to the room.

"Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe." The voice she heard earlier replied. She knew it now and looked to the end of the bed she was lain on.

"Byron?" She called, still unsure of what was waking and what where her dreams.

"Indeed." He replied, before standing and kneeling down beside the head of the bed. His black clothes seemed to juxtapose his blond hair dramatically, and he held her in his gaze, not willing to let her slip away from him. "You were unconscious for a few hours, it seems you had a mind burst Captain. We thought it better for all concerned if you remained here with us."

_Hours_, she thought. She knew that she couldn't be out of reach long. She had to get back to being the captain before they realised she wasn't topside.

"I have to get back." She announced, sitting up suddenly, trying not to fall prey to the sudden rush to her head as she did so.

"I wouldn't advise-" Byron began before she cut him short.

"What if they need me?" She asked, not willing to reason with a man of no authority. "If I'm missing they'll come looking for me."

Byron sighed, seeing how stubborn she was going to be, and that he would not stop her should she choose to leave. "Very well." He uttered, standing and folding his arms.

She dropped her legs off the same side of the bed that Byron stood and raised herself to her feet. But it did not last for more than a moment before her legs gave way and Byron, seemingly prepared for what would happen, caught her.

He held her up for a moment, despite her wish to lie back down. He knew he had to make his point clear to her. "You're not strong enough yet. If you walk out that door I fear you would be unconscious within a few seconds." His grip loosened and he sat her back down, his voice descending into his usual calm and rational tones.

"Don't worry." He informed her, taking her hand, "It is safe here."

Ivanova listened to the silence for a moment, before realising that she had no thoughts of others entering her head anymore. Not even the residual strong emotions that she could pick up off people before this had started. It was utterly quiet.

"Why can't I hear them?" She asked, almost alarmed by the lack of thoughts.

Byron tapped his fore and middle finger to his temple. "That would be me. The population of this station were too strong for you. I'm afraid I'm all that stands between you and the floor."

He paused for a moment, as if to gauge whether now was a suitable time to engage her in explanation.

"It would seem we have much to discuss." He began, as he sat beside her, "I fear that your headache has come to fruition and its natural conclusion." Susan leaned forward and placed her head in her hands in half desperation and half nausea.

"Oh God." She murmured, feeling Byron pulling her back upright through fear she would still fall.

"You knew?" He asked factually, no judgement in his voice.

She sighed dryly, not wanting to believe it were true. She didn't want to have this life.

"I've been a latent teep since I was a child. My mother was a telepath. I'd hoped it wasn't…" She trailed off, unable to finish her train of thought in her current state.

Byron was silent for a moment, before he decided to continue his line of questioning.

"Strange isn't it? How you have an asset that most humans cannot even begin to comprehend, but you would give anything not to have this gift. Because we are what we are, we must deceive those around us, or live isolated lives. Will you tell your friends what you have become?"

"I couldn't." Susan shook her head, "I couldn't have them think of me as a liability. And I don't know how I'd explain…" She paused in mid-sentence again, the shock of her mind bust still weighing heavy on her.

"Do you know how this came about?" He continued. "Latents usually reach development at a young age; your case is very rare."

"I have an idea…" She began, knowing exactly how it had come about but unsure how to explain. "I don't think I can… It's very difficult to talk about." She finally decided.

Byron nodded, seeing that it would be no simple thing to understand, so he decided to ask no more.

"You were dreaming, quite vividly." He told her, wondering what had prompted her to cry out in her sleep.

"When I was five the corps tested me," She explained, knowing he would probably be familiar with the routine. "I was so afraid. I thought I'd loose everything. My mother taught me how to fool the tests but I just wanted to run and hide. I haven't had a nightmare about it in years."

Her mind cast back to her dream, all the details nightmarishly vivid in her mind. She could see her mothers face as she held was held by her. And the sum of the events came together and she found tears rolling silently down her face.

" I'm sorry." She whispered to Byron, willing her tears to cease.

"It's alright." He uttered, before adding on "You've had quite a shock." He let her weep for a few minutes, and let her gather herself together. After a time, he saw will exercise itself and stop the tears. At this point, he stood and stretched out his hand in front of her.

"Come." He asked of her.

"Where?"

He smiled, trying to appear more inviting to her vulnerability. "There are people I want you to meet."

* * *

Susan had never seen such a contradiction in terms. Down below still had it's pipes and underdeveloped industrial surroundings, but had been curtained and beds lain down. This did not seem like the home of Vagrant refugees, but of quietly resting nomads, tucking themselves away amongst untold poverty.

Byron had to aid her in walking, her head still didn't seem to be directly connected to her body, therefore she had to lean on him a great deal in order to remain upright.

The telepaths were occupied in a variety of ways. One sat on the floor reading a book, some were eating, mending clothes, sleeping, writing, all in silence. As her and Byron passed they looked up and smiled at Byron who smiled back. For the first time she appreciated that this was possibly the first time in their lives that the telepaths had not been oppressed or afraid. The simplest of things were a symbol of the normal life they had been so far denied because of their abilities.

Byron stopped in his tracks, the young man now sitting cross legged at Byrons' feet playing chess with the man opposite looked up. Realising who stood there, he rose silently, nudging his friend hard on the shoulder as he stood. The other man looked up and then took up a place beside his friend as they were introduced.

"This is Patrick, and this is James." Byron introduced them formally, noting the game of chess they had been playing. "They were the ones who brought you here."

"Thank you." Popped out of her mouth, not particularly sure what to say to two chess playing telepaths.

She noticed Byron seemed to silently dismiss them and they sat back down. Byron seemed to be in authority, but did not seem to exercise it consciously. She saw how it was him the telepaths raised their heads too, when all else they seemed to ignore.

One of them picked up a pawn and began to move it before Byron spoke.

"Not there," He advised. "He'll have check in three moves."

The telepath put the piece down and began to reconsider, before Byron announced to all the people gathered in the area. A silent signal was sent between them all, each one called to attention remaining seated around their leader.

"This is Susan." Byron announced to all the telepaths, suddenly making her feel very uneasy as the telepaths looked up at her. In protecting her, Byron had also cut her off from any thoughts they might have had towards her. It was as if she were deaf and the whole room was shouting.

"She has just discovered her talent, and we must help her burden this." He continued before turning to her.

"We will teach you, if you wish to learn."

* * *

Hours later she was able to hold up her defences on her own. She was exhausted, but found she could now walk in a straight line. Gradually, the number of telepaths around her declined until it was just her and Byron, and the outside noise of the quarter million voices was gone by her own doing.

After a time they both stood and walked away, Susan not too sure she wanted to stray from this poverty ridden sanctuary. Silence passed between them, Ivanova unsure as to what she felt towards these people or to Byron. He watched her carefully, seeing every flicker of thought darting behind her eyes until finally he could stand it no more and asked his foolish question.

"Will you stay with us?"

At first she thought to laugh. The idea was ridiculous, she couldn't ever be a part of his group of followers. Realising he was serious she formed a reply.

"We live in two different worlds Byron. In here, down here it's safe for you and the others to be who you are. But I don't live here; I can't suddenly become part of this."

"I'm not asking you to." He replied frankly, seeing she had taken his question more literally than it had been intended.

" I'm asking you to see this as a gift, not as an abnormality. I know this is difficult, but your friends, they will never see the world as we do."

Susan disliked that- how he seemed to think less of normals than he did of telepaths. It wasn't outright hatred as she had seen from Garibaldi, but it was certainly more tolerance than acceptance.

Byron could see that she hadn't reached the level of understanding he had hoped to attain with her. He paused mid step and grabbed her firmly on the arm.

"They see black and white, not the grey between the two. When they hold each other they know only that which they touch, but we know every inch of each other, every fibre and thought."

Realising the pressure he held her arm in he let go, realising that physically offending her would not help his case. Perhaps he should try a different approach.

"Before the corps took your mother, did she ever make contact with you?"

It seemed odd that he would even ask. He must of felt the mental footprints searing in her memory. None the less she replied.

"Yes."

"And what do you remember about that?

She paused, trying to find a way to put it into words. It wasn't comprehendible verbally.

"That she loved me. I can't describe it." She finally gave out.

"The most profound feeling of love." He seemed to ask more than confirm. "We live within that, that which we all lost to the corps."

He had given her a great deal to consider, and considering the length of the day, or night as it was, Byron thought perhaps he should approach this subject again at another time.

"How do you feel?" he changed the subject as they stood awkwardly side by side.

"Better." She stated, feeling such strange tension between them. Both leaders clashed ideologically, but at the same time, were very much in tune with each other.

"Then why are you still here?" he smiled, verging on poking fun at her. But the dis-armingness of familiarity was not quite there.

"I'm… I'm not ready to go back yet." Ivanova began, feeling that deep down she didn't want to leave these people, or indeed this person. This seemed to be the only security she now had. "I don't even know who I am, let alone if I can face them." She continued, glancing upward.

He weakly smiled again and stepped closer to her, squeezing her arm again. "You're strong; you've always been strong."

Suddenly he grimaced and his head bowed forward as he groaned in what appeared to be a sudden headache.

"Byron?" Her concern for him was sudden, and more than she would have thought at this stage.

"I'm alright," He whispered lifting his head, fatigue now in his voice. "Just tired. It took a lot to hold you."

For the first time it occurred to her that this was complete charity on Byrons part. After their first meeting she wouldn't have been surprised if she had been dumped outside med lab. But he had gone out of his way, even put himself through a great deal to help her. She saw such strength in him, and felt weak in comparison.

"I don't know if I can be strong anymore." She mumbled, unsure that she could return to the other side of her world. Insecure and uncertain, she set her head against Byrons shoulder as he embraced her.

* * *

We'll be back with chapter 3 after these messages-

Apologies (to Hilary Weston in particular) for lack of Marcus… he should be in part 3…. If I can find the draft I wrote of it.

Crazy Ranger:


	3. uncertainty

There you go kids… it's rushed slightly, but I just wanna get this one finished and get to Paragon… that's where the meat is! (Plus I wanna go to the pub!) Anyway… like it lump it whatever… never fear, Marcus be here.

Love, love, Kiss kiss,

Crazy

* * *

It was the early hours when Susan finally found it within herself to leave Byron. She knew already it had been a mistake, and that she didn't love him in any way. She stood and subtly began to pick her way out of the darkness, knowing that the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to go.

"You're leaving?" Byron's voice came out of the darkness. Susan stopped and turned. She didn't want a confrontation with him.

"I have to go back." She replied shortly, adding nothing more to that simple truth.

He got up and stood in half shadow where Susan was able to make out his figure. "Do you?"

They paused, both knowing he asked for the impossible. Finally, he bridged the awkward silence between them. "I'm sorry, I know you do."

There was sadness in his voice, the fact he was loosing her back to the real world far sooner than he had hoped for. Unable to remain for Byron's mind stretching forward and beckoning her back, Susan headed towards the light.

"Susan." He called her back. She froze at the door, even though every instinct told her to leave.

"Don't forget us." He added, aware of the irreconcilable differences between them. "We live in two different worlds as much as we can, but we are the same. Don't forget we're here."

She wanted to turn back to him, to thank him for his kindness but no words came. But he knew as she wordlessly left she was grateful.

* * *

Back in the real world, reality seemed hard to deal with. Luckily it seemed that everyone had assumed that she'd gone to bed, hearing that Londo hadn't been attacked and she could do nothing to rectify the situation. It was just as well she'd gone back when she did, She'd been linked by Zac to tell her she was needed in a dockers guild dispute. Susan had seemingly got away with being unaccounted for, for an entire night.

There was only one person who worried her, one person who had a knack for solving mysteries and spent his life on her tail. If Marcus knew she'd spent the night in down below he'd have a fit. Sooner or later she'd catch up with him, and if he knew, she didn't know how she'd explain her way out of it. But lately things didn't go well for Marcus, and she doubted he'd be doing much of anything for a while.

That was until she opened the transport tube doors mid-morning to see him slanted slightly against a wall, not moving to stand as she entered. She had to keep her cool, odds were he knew nothing.

"Hi," He began curtly, looking her up and down in a way that made her tense up.

"Hey." She greeted him in return, returning the favour of gazing at him. God, he looked terrible. He looked as though he were still getting thinner, and he seemed more pale that the last time she saw him.

"You look I feel." She finally murmured, begging for a response. Things were still so awkward between them, and seeing Marcus like this didn't help. She was so comforted when he drew in a long breath and delivered a long winded reply.

"Trust me, you can't feel this bad. Its humanly impossible to feel this bad. With myself being the obvious exception." He smiled weakly, and she almost sighed with relief. For one, he wouldn't react like that if he knew she'd been in down below all night, secondly, it was a glint of the Marcus she knew all too well. Underneath the ever growing pale skin, was the humour of her friend.

"That good huh?" She replied

"Yep." He returned curtly.

"I thought you said you were sleeping better."

"Sleeping isn't the problem, waking up is." He told her, in a matter of fact way. "I've just been asleep for 48 hours straight."

Susan smiled, "I wondered where you'd got to." She absently murmured.

"It wouldn't be so bad if I woke up feeling any better, but I'm not." Marcus continued, ignoring her wondering at his whereabouts. She looked at him for a moment, trying to work out what he was getting at without reading his mind. He didn't seem in pain, he seemed more frustrated, and angry.

"Oh?" She asked simply, trying to bring the information out of him.

"Oh doesn't begin to cover it." He replied, folding his arms in a definite gesture. Something else was going on.

"What's wrong?" She asked, seeing that he was clearing upset about something else.

He sighed, unfolded his arms and looked at his feet, trying to avoid saying it as if to make it not so. Finally he looked up and straight at her.

"Lenniers gone."

"What?" Susan asked, not sure that she had heard him correctly.

"I spoke to Delenn this morning she told me- that Lennier had returned to Minbar and joined the Rangers." He informed her, his teeth almost gritted.

"Whow. That's kind of sudden." Susan said more to herself than Marcus. She could see he was hurt by this.

"So sudden he didn't wake me up to say goodbye." Marcus half snarled. She'd seen him so upset he'd torn a room of people apart, but this seemed worse. As if the world was slipping by him. "What is it lately?" he continued, seeming to start on a rant. "Has the custom of saying goodbye slipped into the archaic without my knowledge, or have I become immensely unpopular!"

"Marcus," She began, trying to find the right words to calm him down.

He began to say something else, but thought better of it. "Sorry, I'm rather annoyed, to put it mildly."

"How about fuming?" She corrected him, trying to diffuse the situation. She didn't know if Marcus was in any condition to go and do something stupid, but she'd rather not risk finding out.

"If it works for you." He mumbled before holding a long pause. "He's doing this for all the wrong reasons." He finally said. "Joining the rangers won't solve his problem. If he'd just talked to me, I could of convinced him not to go."

Thinking for a moment before she replied, Susan put it as honestly as possible. "Then that's probably why he didn't want to see you."

"Maybe" He replied, before cutting himself off with a yawn. "Oh for fu-"

"What?" Susan asked him, knowing that particular word was rarely used as a Marcusism.

"I've been up three hours and I'm exhausted." He explained, rubbing his eyes. "Would you do me a favour?"

"Sure." She replied, knowing full well that the amount of sleep he'd been having was not healthy.

"Call me in 24 hours, if you don't hear from me. Otherwise I'll spend the rest of my life asleep." He managed to get out before he yawned again. "Dammit!" Marcus yelled before quieting down to a low mutter. "I hate this."

"Which part?"

He looked to her, and she saw the tiredness in his face, the look of a resigned man. He seemed beaten. "The part that concerns the fact I've no idea what's going to happen, or if I'll get any better. And knowing exactly how to deal with it would help."

The tube stopped and the doors opened, Susan was about to leave feeling much worse than she had entered.

"See you." Came the well wishing.

"Sleep well." She told him before stepping outside. Realising at that moment she had forgotten something. "Marcus wait!" She yelled. He reached out and stopped the transport, then leaned slightly through the still open doors.

Susan hadn't had the chance to ask anyone question of the day. "D'you know what happened to Londo?"

"Oh you don't know?" He began.

Susan swallowed, praying to god it wasn't bad news. That was the last thing she needed.

"According to Delenn, Stephen says he'll be fine." Marcus came out with to her enormous relief. "We should all be so lucky." He concluded with, leaning back inside the tube before the doors closed.

* * *

Be back soon my prettys… stay in school, happy new year etc.

Crazy Ranger:


End file.
